KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 — Police must adhere to all standard operating procedures on lockup management to reduce the number of deaths under their watch, Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) said today.
It commended the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) for its investigation into the recent deaths in police custody, but said the commission’s work would be in vain if police officers themselves are unwilling to change.
“We are concerned EAIC’s work will be in vain as criminal prosecution rarely leads to conviction unless this “blue wall of silence” is broken,” LFL executive director Eric Paulsen said in a statement, referring to the police officers’ reluctance in testifying against fellow police officers.
“In order for any real change to occur, the police force themselves must be willing to change and not tolerate any further custodial deaths,” he added.
Paulsen was referring to the recent findings on the custodial death investigations of S. Balamurugan and Soh Kai Chiok.
On Thursday, the EAIC recommended criminal action against police personnel involved in the deaths of Balamurugan in Klang Utara and Soh in Bera district in Pahang.
In delivering his verdict, EAIC chairman Datuk A. Aziz A. Rahim said the police had not complied with its procedures in handling both cases.
Balamurugan was arrested on suspicion of car robbery last February 6, and found dead while under unlawful detention two days later.
Soh, meanwhile, reportedly died in the lock-up cell last January 18.
